Norfolk, in addition to Wieters, will also have Ps David Hernandez, a stathead fave/scout’s question mark, and Brad Bergesen and perhaps Ps Chris Tillman and Jake Arrieta as well, although last I heard both were likely to open with Bowie.

The Nofolk rotation will consist of Chris Tillman, David Hernandez, Brad Bergesen, David Pauley and Chris Waters. I believe one of the AAAA guys will be getting the opening day start. Arrieta will start at AA Bowie.

Norfolk should also have a few interesting guys in the bullpen in Liz, Mickolio, and Wilfrido Perez. Wieters is the obvious draw on offense, although Reimold, Justin Turner and Montanez have their fans.

Pirates fans deserve all the recompense possible for their pain.

According to Baseball America, Todd Frazier is being converted to LF.

The minor league rosters are slowly trickling in - what surprising things have people seen?

I'm psyched to have the Brewers' A affiliate in Appleton, alliteratively. I was surprised to see Edgar Trejo make the team having gotten so little experience at Helena after blowing out his knee last year; I was also surprised to see Chris Dennis get held back to ostensibly repeat Helena. Also, not necessarily surprising, but good to see a vote of confidence in Shawn Zarraga, skipping him past Helena entirely--he could give the Brewers a third real catching prospect. Really interesting pitching staff for the T-Rats, including Cody Scarpetta, Wily Peralta, Efrain Nieves, Cody Adams, and Evan Frederickson.

The only reason Matt Wieters is playing in the International League is because he is his own country. His left and right biceps constitute the fourth largest standing army in the world, and his GDP is that of the EU, Russia and Canada combined. His fecal matter is the national currency, and the national flag shows an F-16 jumpkicking a bear in the face.

And the chief leading export? Fear.

The best thing about the minors? I keep getting older but they stay minors. Giggity giggity.

I was surprised about Trejo too - the projections on brewerfan had Juan Sanchez there (at third), right? Not that either guy is considered that great of a prospect...

I guess Sanchez will play Brevard; might as well see if they've got anything there, given his age. Trejo's actually pretty interesting, prospect-wise; he's the second-youngest position player on the team, after Lawrie.

The minor league rosters are slowly trickling in - what surprising things have people seen?

The A's apparently sent 22 year-olds Sean Doolittle and Henry Rodriguez to AAA Sacramento, despite them both struggling in AA last year.

With Daric Barton playing 1B for Sacramento, that would seem to be a sign that they're moving Doolittle to the OF full time. The outfield is a bit crowded, with three 40 man roster guys (Denorfia, Patterson, and Cunningham) and Matt Carson. They'll probably try Patterson at 2B again, though they have two more 40 man guys in the middle infield (Petit and Pennington).

It also means they're making Rodriguez a reliever.

According to Baseball America, Todd Frazier is being converted to LF.

Not a huge surprise. With Valaika and Francisco at about the same level, and Soto closing fast, the left side of the infield was getting pretty crowded, and Frazier was always considered likely to move to a corner. Zach Cozart is jumping a level, too; he's going to be starting for the Mudcats, bypassing Sarasota.

I thought that Hellickson might get a shot at AAA to start the season, but the Rays opted not to change the plan that they've followed with most of their pitching prospects, including Davis a year ago. When Price goes up, there will be a natural opening for him.

I'm a little surprised that Daniel Schlereth is starting the year in Mobile. Not hugely surprised, I guess; it's better than Visalia. But Schlereth threw only 12 innings last year after being signed, and I really thought they'd keep him at the lower level for a month or two before pushing him to AA. It looks as though Matt Torra will also be pitching for the BayBears again, which is another mild surprise; he did well in the SL a year ago, less well after a promotion to Tucson but not particularly awful given the environment. I have no idea what it's going to be like in Reno. Hankerd's also starting back in Mobile again, and Skelton's going there too.

-- MWE

I am kind of looking forward to seeing whether Dallas Buck has finally recovered from TJ surgery after being abused to death in college.

-- MWE

Not a huge surprise. With Valaika and Francisco at about the same level, and Soto closing fast, the left side of the infield was getting pretty crowded

Valaika's being moved to second base, as well.

Juan Sanchez is at Wisconsin too; I'm just blind.

Valaika's being moved to second base, as well.

Either they really like Cozart or they really think AGon will be valuable for a while. Or a combination of both.

-- MWE

I should be going to see a Midwest League (Chiefs versus River Bandits) game in a week or so. Anyone I should be paying particular attention to?

I should be going to see a Midwest League (Chiefs versus River Bandits) game in a week or so. Anyone I should be paying particular attention to?

Josh Vitters, obviously. Quad Cities' Niko Vasquez looks like a decent MIF prospect; we'll see how he does in a full-season league.

-- MWE

Just an update: The Winston-Salem Dash's home park has not seen significant construction progress since before Christmas. They'll be playing (at least) the first half of the season in old Ernie Shore park, since renamed Wake Forest Baseball Park. The Dash will use the visitor's clubhouse while visiting teams will use the visitor's locker room at the nearby football field with shuttles taking them to and from the park and ferrying supplies. Several games will start at 11am to be sure the field is ready for scheduled WFU games at 7pm.


I guess they don't call it the minors for nothing. FWIW, I see no way any games are played at the downtown park this summer.

Sanchez - he was a 4th rd pick of the AAA phase of Rule 5. I think it's safe to say that his development is not a priority.
Torra - So, what's up with him in Mobile anyway? I had him pegged as a guy who might be on the verge of a jump forward (to usefulness) this year.
The M's have stuck Rohrbaugh in AA as well - not sure why.
Justin Sellers is now in the Dodgers org - not sure how that happened. I floated him as a possible (if unlikely) R5 choice this year as his glove is big league ready at short, he's young (23 this season) and his bat isn't awful. I think he's already reached the utility phase of his minor league career, not a good sign.
Niko Vasquez has a few big fans, Keith Law (iirc) is one. He's a guy who'd've been a low first round pick if he could run...

The Dash will use the visitor's clubhouse while visiting teams will use the visitor's locker room at the nearby football field with shuttles taking them to and from the park and ferrying supplies.

They should make the headquarters for the home team at the football field; then they could *dash* back and forth :)

-- MWE

Torra - So, what's up with him in Mobile anyway?

It could be that they want to build up his innings and are worried about the hitting environment in Reno. Or maybe he's stalled out.

The M's have stuck Rohrbaugh in AA as well - not sure why.

Perhaps for the same reason. Rohrbaugh didn't pitch especially well at Tacoma and he's a finesse/fly ball guy.

-- MWE

ERA aside, Rohrbaugh was okay, (yes, I agree babip means more in the minors than in the bigs, but a lot of his struggles last year may have been luck). It's not a big deal or anything, he's just a guy, nothing special, but I was surprised.

Torra: Until they start televising minor league ST games, it's hard to say...

I think we're starting to see an awareness of exactly how the Cal League/PCL conditions affect pitching prospects among those teams that have affiliates there and an AA affiliate in the EL or SL.

-- MWE

They should make the headquarters for the home team at the football field; then they could *dash* back and forth :)


At last! A rationale for the nickname!

Eastern League cranked it up tonight. Brandon Snyder had three hits in his AA debut, but Bowie lost 9-5 at Akron as Jason Berken and Ryan Rodriguez were roughed by the Aeros. Beau Mills had a single but was also caught stealing.

New Hampshire won 7-4 over New Britain. David Cooper, Toronto's #1 pick a year ago, had a double, walk, run scored, and RBI in his first AA game. LHP Marc Rzepczynski got the win in his first start in AA, fanning 9 in five innings; he's a 5th rounder in '07 who pitched in low-A a year ago and was jumped two levels to start the season.

Ryan Strieby, a big 1B prospect out of Kentucky, popped two homers and drove in four runs and Erie hung on for an 8-7 win over Altoona. Scott Sizemore had two triples, scored twice, and drove in 3. Jim Negrych (who is back playing 2B) had four hits including a pair of doubles and scored three runs, and Brian Friday came up a HR short of the cycle for the Curve. Jose Tabata, back in AA for the moment, added two singles.

-- MWE

If they're playing in the old ballpark again they should go back to the old-fashioned "plural noun" style of team name. "Dash", forsooth.